Automatic reclosing circuit-breaker system



1,587,440 E. TAYLOR AUTOMATIC RECLOSING CIRCUIT BREAKER SYSTEM June 1 1926.

Filed July 31, 1922 v Inventor Eolwawd 'TaI low, by 1 His Attornesh Patented June 1, 1926.

. UNITED STATES" PATENT orrlca.

EDWARD TAYLOR, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO GENERAL ELECTRIO- COK-' I PANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK. 1

AUTOMATIC RECLOSING CIRCUIT-BREAKER SYSTEM.

Application filed July 31, 1922. Serial No. 578,558.

My invention relates to automatic reclosing circuit breaker systems and particularly to such systems in which a circuit breaker, which controls .the connection between two I circuits, is automatically reclosed after it has been open a predetermined time and the reclosing means is rendered inoperative after the circuit breaker has been automatically reclosed a number of times.

One object of my invention is to provide an improved automatic reclosing circuit breaker system of the above-mentioned type which is simple, inexpensive and reliable in its operation.

Another object of my invention is to provide an improved automatic reclosing circuit breaker system of the above-mentioned type in which a single actuating means is used to close a plurality of circuit breakers and 20 is operative to reclose any one of the circuit breakers unless it has been opened a predetermined number of times.

Another object of my invention is to provide an improved automatic reclosing circuit breaker system of the type above-mentioned in which a single actuating means is used to close a plurality of circuit breakers and is operative in response to the opening of any one of the circuit breakers to reclose said circuit breaker unless it has been opened a predetermined number of times.

Another object of my invention is to provide an improved automatic reclosing circuit breaker system of the above-mentioned type in which the circuit breaker is provided with a reclosing mechanism which is arranged to be actuated by an electric motor when the circuit breaker opens and in which the reclosing mechanism is rendered inoper ative to effect the reclosing of the circuit breaker after the circuit breaker has been opened and closed a predetermined number of times.

My invention will be better understood from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, and its scope will be pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing which shows one embodiment of my invention, a plurality of single phase alternating current circuits 1 and 2 are arran ed to be con nected to a common distributlng bus 3 by means of the clrcuit breakers 5 and 6, re-

Each circuit breaker is provided with a suitable operating mechanism for closing the breaker. The particular type of mechanism schematically shown in the drawing comprises an overset toggle 7 which is arranged to be set by a cam 9. Each toggle 7 comprises links 10 and 11 which act between the contact arm 12 of the circuit breaker and the core 13 of an electromagnet 14 when the coil 15 thereof is energized. The link 11 is pivotally connected to a link 16 which in turn is connected to the fixed pivot 17. The core 13 is so arranged with respect to the toggle 7 that when the coil 15 is energized and the circuit breaker is closed it 1s in the position shown by the dotted lines and prevents the link 16 from rotating beyond a certain point in the direction indicated by the arrow so that the force tending to open the breaker holds the toggle locked. When, however, the circuit breaker is closed and the coil 15 is deenergized a spring 18 moves the core 13 out of engagement with the link 16 to the position shown by the solid lines so that the opening force of the breaker causes the link 16 to rotate in the direction indicated by the arrow thereby breaking the toggle and allowing the circuitbreaker to open regardless of the position of the cam 9.

When the coil 15 is deenergized, and the circuit breaker is open, the rotation of the cam 9 causes the link 16 to rotate about its fixed pivot 17 so that the circuit breaker remains open and the toggle 7 remains unlocked. When, however, the coil 15 is energized so that the core 13 is moved into the path of the link 16, the toggle 7 is strai htened and the circuit breaker is closed w en the cam 9 reaches its locking position.

The cams 9 are mounted on a common shaft 20 which maybe driven by any suitable means such as an electric motor 21. Preferably the cams are mounted on the shaft so that the circuit breakers are closed in a predetermined sequence with a predetermined time [between the closing oi? two circuit breakers. With such an arrangement a motor of asize great enough to close only one circuit breaker may be used, since only one circuit breaker is closed at a time.

It is to be understood, however, that my invention is not limited to the exact mechanism shown for closing the breakers and which -'orms the subject matter of an application Serial No. 655134 filed August 1, 1923, by William K. Rankin, and assigned to the same assignee as this application.

The motor 21 is arranged to be supplied with current from any suitable source such as the control circuit 22 which is supplied with current from the incoming circuit 1 by means of the transformer 23.

The circuit of the motor 21 is controlled by the circuit breakers 5 and 6 so that the motor operates to efiect the operation of the operating mechanisms Whenever either one of the circuit breakers is opened. As shown in the drawing, the motor 21 is arranged to be connected across the control circuit 22 by means of a relay 24 the circuit of which is completed across the control circuit 22 by the contacts 25 of each circuit breaker when it is in its open position.

Each circuit breaker is arranged to be opened in response to an-overload on the respective circuit by means of an overload relay 26 which is connected so as to be responsive to the current in the respective C11- cuit. Each overload relay is arranged so that it does not open its contacts 27 and close its contacts 28 until the current in the respective circuit exceeds a predetermined value. Preferably, these overload relays are of the inverse time limit type. Each overload relay controls the circuit of a timerelay 29 associated therewith. These time relays may be of any suitable construction and preferably are designed so that they open their contacts 29' as soon as their coils are energized but do not close their contacts therewith across the control circuit 22. The notching relays 31 may be of any suitable construction whereby they do not open their contacts until the coils 30 thereof have been energized a predetermined number of times. As shown in the drawing, each notching relay is arranged to Open its contacts when the coil '30 has been successively energized a predetermined number. of

member 39 of the dashpot 40 is arranged to be operated by the core 33 when the coil 30 lS energized. A spring 41 tends -to movethe holding pawl 38 into engagement with the ratchet 34. Preferably the dashpot 40 is arranged in any well-known manner so that only the downward movement of.

the movable member 39 is delayed. The contacts 43 of the notching relay are so arranged with respect to the actuating member 35 that these contacts are not opened until the coil 30 has been successively energized I a predetermined number of times, which, in the arrangement shown in the drawing is three. These contacts are also arranged so that they remain in their open positions until they have been reset by hand.

The contacts 43 are in the circuits. of the coils of the associated time relay 29 and notching relay 31 so that these relays are rendered inoperative when the contacts are open.

A hand switch 45 is provided in the circuits of the coils of the time relay 29 and the notching relay 31 associated with each circuit breaker, so that the reclosing equipment may be made inoperative by merely opening the respective switches.

The operation of the equipment shown in the drawing is as follows :Under normal operating conditions all of the circuit breakers are closed and the upper contacts 28 of all of the overload relays 26 are open so that the coilsof all of the time relays 29 and all of the notchin'g relays 31 are deenergized. Therefore the holding coils 15 of all of the circuit breakers are energized since the contacts 29' of all the time relays'29 and the contacts 27 of all of the overload relays 26 are closed. Since all the auxiliary contacts 25. are open the circuit of the control relay 24 is open and the motor 21 is deenergized.

When a any one o the circuits, the overload'relay 26 in this circuit operates and opens its lower contacts 27 and closes its upper contacts 28 thereby opening the circuit of the holdredetermined overload occurs on ing coil 15 of its respective circuit breaker and completing a circuit for the coil of its respective time relay 29 and coil 30 of its respective notching relay 31 through the contacts of its respective hand switch 45, contacts 43 of its respective notching relay 31, and contacts 28 of its respective overload relay 26. As soon as the holding coil of the circuit breaker in the overloaded circuit is deenergized the toggle 7 is broken and the circuit breaker opens. The energization of the coil 30 of the respective notching relay causes the core 33 of thenotching relay to rotate the ratchet 34 the distance of one tooth and to move the movable element 39 of the dashpot 40 away from the holding pawl 38 so that the pawl moves into engagement with the ratchet 34 and holds it in its actuated position.

As soon as the circuit breaker opens the current through the overload relay 26 in the overloaded circuit drops to zero so that b the relay opens its contacts 28 and closes its contacts 27. The opening of the contacts 28 opens the circuit of the coil of the time relay 29 and the relay starts to close. After a predetermined time this relay closes its contacts 29' so that the holding coil 15 of the open circuit breaker is again energized.

The closing of its contacts 27 of the overload relay 26 connects the coil of the relay 24 across the control bus 22 through the contacts of the hand switch 45, contacts 43 of the notching relay and the contacts 25 of the open circuit breaker. The energization of the relay 24 connects the motor 21 across the control bus 22so that the shaft and the cams 9 are rotated.

As the motor 21 rotates the cam 9 associated with the open circuit breaker the toggle 7 of this circuit breaker is straightened. It is apparent that if the holding coil 15 is deenergized the straightening of the toggle does not exert any force to close the circuit breaker, since the link 16 mcrelv rotates about its fixed pivot 17. When,'however, the coil 15 is energized, the core 13 is moved into the path of the link 16 so that b when the toggle is straightened the circuit breaker is closed. The cam 9 is designed so that when it closes the circuit breaker, the toggle 7 is thrown to its off-center position and therefore the opening force of the circuit breaker tends to keep it. locked. As soon as the circuit breaker closes, it opens its contacts sothat therelay' 24 is deenergized and the opening of the contacts of this relay disconnects the'motor 21 from the control bus 22 unless some other circuit breaker is open.

As soon as the coil of the notching relay 31 is deenergized by the overload relay 26 opening its contacts 28, the'movable element 39 of the dashpot 40 begins to fall. After a predetermined time the movable element 39 moves the holding pawl 38 out of engagement with the ratchet 34 so that the actuating member 35 is restored to its normal position unless the coil is reenergized before the predetermined time has elapsed.

.The above sequence is repeated in case the overload is still connected to the circuit when the circuit breaker therein is closed. a If the If the circuit breaker opens a third time A before the notching relay is reset the notching relay is moved the distance of another tooth and the actuating member opens the contacts 43 so that further automatic operation of the reclosing equipment is prevented until the contacts 43 have been reset y hand.

The contacts 43 when open, prevent the heretofore described circuits of the coils of the timing relay 29, the notching relay 31, the holding coil 15 and the control relay 24 associated with the respective circuit breaker from being completed. Therefore the circuit of the motor 21 is not energized unless some other circuit breaker is open. Furthermore since the holding coil 15 of the circuit breaker is held open, the circuitbreaker is not closed by the rotation of the motor 21 when this motor is operated in re sponse to the opening of some other circuit breaker which has not been opened a predetermined number of times.

While I have shown and described one embodiment of my invention, I do not desire to be limited thereto but seek to cover in the appended claims all those modifications that fall within the true spirit and scope of my invention. I

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. In combination, a plurality of circuits, a circuit breaker in each circuit adapted to e opened automatically upon the occurrence of a predetermined condition on the respective circuit, mechanism associated with each breaker arranged to close the same, driving means common to all of said mechanisms for actuating said mechanisms operative in response to the opening of any one of said circuit breakers, and means adapted to be operated after a circuit breaker has been opened a predetermined number of times to prevent the reclosing of said breaker by its respective mechanism.

2. In combination, a plurality of circuits. a circuit breaker in each circuit adapted to be opened automatically upon the occurrence of a predetermined condition on the respective circuit, mechanism associated with each breaker arranged to close the same, an electric motor common to all of said mechanisms for actuating the same, a circuit for said motor adapted to be closed in response to theopening of each of said circuit breakers. and means associated with each circuit breaker operative to prevent the reclosing of the respective breaker by its respective mechanism after it has been opened a predetermined number of times.

3. In combination, a plurality of circuits, a circuit breaker in each circuit, mechanism associated with each breaker arranged to close the same, a holding coil for each breaker arranged when energized to maintain said breaker in its closed position and to enable the respective mechanism to close the breaker, a normally closed circuit for each of said holding coils, means arranged to open the circuit of the holding coil of a circuit breaker upon the occurrence of an overload on the respective circuit in which the circuit breaker is connected, a common driving means for actuating said mechanisms arranged to be operated by the opening of any one of said circuit breakers, and normally closed contacts in the circuit of each holding coil arranged to be opened after the respective circuit breaker has been opened and closed a predetermined number of times.

4. In combination, a plurality of circuits, a circuit breaker in each circuit adapted to be opened automatically upon the occurrence of a predetermined condition on the respective circuit, mechanism associated with each breaker arranged to close the same, an electric motor common to all of said mechanisms for actuating the same, a circuit for said motor adapted to be closed in response to the opening of each of said circuit breakers, and means associated with each circuit breaker operative to prevent said motor circuit from being completed by the opening thereof after the respective circuit breaker has been opened a predetermined number of times.

5. In combination, a plurality of circuits, a circuit breaker in each circuit, mechanism associated with each breaker arranged to close the same, a holding coil for each breaker arranged when energized to maintain said breaker in its closed position and to enable the respective mechanism to close the breaker, means adapted to be operated by the opening of a circuit breaker to eflect the energization of theholding coil thereof, a common driving means for actuating said mechanisms, and means associated with each circuit breaker operative to prevent the energization of the respective holding coil after the circuit breaker has been opened a predetermined number of times.

6. In combination, an electric circuit, a circuit breaker in said circuit, a holding coil for said circuit breaker adapted when energized to maintain said breaker in its closed position, means adapted to be operated to "efi'ect the energization of said holding coil,

mechanism arranged to close said breaker, an electric motor arranged to be operated automat cally to actuate sald mechanism opened and closed a predetermined number of times to prevent the energization of said holding coil.

7. In combination, an electric circuit, a.

circuit breaker in said circuit, a holding coil for said circuit breaker adapted when energized to maintain said breaker in its closed position, a normally closed energizing circuit for said holding coil, an overload relay arranged to effect the opening of said normally closed circuit when the current ir said electric circuit exceeds a predetermined value, mechanism arranged to close said breaker, an electric motor arranged to actuate said mechanism, a circuit for said motor arranged to be completed in response to the opening of said breaker, a notching relay arranged to be actuated each time the circuit breaker is opened, and normally closed contacts in the circuit of said motor arranged to be opened by said notching relay after the circuit breaker has opened a predetermined number of times to prevent said motor from operating.

8. In combination, a plurality of circuit breakers, reclosing means for said circuit breakers comprising a common actuating means for said circuit breakers and means associated with each circuit breaker adapted to be actuated by said common actuatin means to effect the closing of the associated circuit breaker when it is open, and means for rendering said reclosing means inoperative to reclose a circuit breaker when the circuit breaker has been opened a predetermined number of times.

9. In combination, a plurality of circuit breakers, reclosing means for said circuit breakers comprising a common actuating means and mechanism associated with each circuit breaker adapted to be actuated by said common actuating means to effect the closing of the associated circuit breaker when it is open and means operative to prevent said actuating means from actuating the mechanism associated with a circuit breaker so as to efl'ect the closing thereof when said last-mentioned circuit breaker has been opened a predetermined number of times.

10. In combination, a' 'plurality of circuit breakers, reclosing means for said circuit breaker comprising a driving motor and means associated with each circuit breaker adapted to be actuated by said motor to close the associated circuit breaker after it has been opened a predetern.ined length of time, and means operative after a circuit breaker has been opened a predetermined number of times to prevent said last-mentioned circuit breaker from being closed by said reclosing means.

11. In combination, a plurality of circuit breakers, reclosing mechanism associated with each circuit breaker, a holding coil for each circuit breaker arranged when energized to maintain said circuit breaker in its closed position and to render the associated reclosing mechanism operative to close the circuit breaker, means operative to effect the energizaiicn of the holdin coil of a circuit breaker after the circuit reaker has been opened a predetermined length of time, a common driving means for actuating said mechanisms, and means for preventing the energization of the associated holding coil of a circuit breaker after said last-mentioned circuit breaker has been opened a predetermined number of times.

12. In an automatic reclosing circuit breaker system, a plurality of circuit breakers, a reclosing device arranged to be set into operation in response to the opening of any one of said circuit breakers, connecting means between each circuit breaker and the reclosing device arranged to be actuated by the reclosing device to close the respective circuit breakers, and means controlled by the operation of one of said circuit breakers for rendering its connecting means inoperative to close the circuit breaker.

13. In an automatic reclosing circuit 30 breaker system, a plurality of circuit breakers, a common actuating means for closing each of said circuit breakers a rranged to operate whenever any one of said circuit breakers is opened, independent means for each circuit breaker arranged to be actuated by said common actuating means to close the respective circuit breakers, and means associated with each circuit breaker circuit breakers, a reclosing device and inde-' pendent operative connectlons between each of the main circuit breakers and the reclosing device, together with means to cut out each of the operative connections after its operation to reclose its main circuit breaker a predetermined number of times.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 24th da of Jul 1922.

E WAR TAYLOR. 

